This invention relates to an electronic program guide ("EPG") system for television that provides users with schedule information for broadcast or cablecast programs available for viewing on a television receiver. More particularly, it relates to a system and method for the management and distribution of the data, i.e., program schedules and associated information, used to provide EPGs to users.
Electronic program guides for television systems are known in the art, particularly with regard to cable television systems. For example, one common implementation of an electronic program guide utilizes a dedicated cable television channel for continuously broadcasting program schedule information. The advantage of such a system is that it is relatively easy to deploy because it is centrally implemented at the cable headend. No additional electronics or software are required at the cable system subscriber location because full control of the display is maintained at the cable headend. The television viewer simply tunes the cable converter box or television tuner to the channel on which the schedule information is modulated and views the program listings. Typically, these program guides utilize a scrolling display of television listings. Some systems employ a partial screen of listings with additional information in the remainder of the screen, such as advertisements for movies on pay channels or pay-per-view (PPV) events as well as other commercial information. These systems generally incorporate a grid or matrix to display the program schedule information, with a different row for each channel and columns representing different time slots.
In addition, interactive program guides are known in the art. Interactive guides are more versatile than dedicated channel guides because they operate under user control. However, they are more costly to implement because they require memory and processor capabilities at each user site. The hardware and software for interactive EPGs may be resident in the cable converter box, television receiver, VCR or other equipment located at the viewer location.
Program guides of both the non-interactive, dedicated channel type and interactive type are distributed to many different providers of television programs and EPGs, including multi-system operators ("MSOs"), cable television system headends, direct satellite television broadcast systems, and over-the-air pay television systems (collectively, the "EPG providers"). In addition, it is likely that in the near future there will be additional providers of television programming, such as local telephone companies. It is therefore anticipated that the number of EPG providers will increase significantly over the next several years as more and more cable systems, direct broadcast satellite systems, and other providers of television programming take steps to enhance the services provided to subscribers. In addition, television program providers will be offering larger numbers of channels in the near future, possibly as many as 500. Moreover, existing EPGs are becoming more sophisticated in the quantity and quality of information on television programs available in the EPG. The above factors will result in a substantial increase in the volume of data handled by the distributor of an EPG ("EPG distributor") to a plurality of EPG providers. There is thus a need for an EPG data management system to provide for the automated collection and processing of EPG data in an efficient and cost effective manner with a minimum of human operator intervention. In addition, the system must be capable of receiving data from multiple sources, each in different, often incompatible formats. The greater the amount of data distributed to different EPG providers, the greater the amount of data that must be received and processed.
A data management system for an EPG must also manage and coordinate the receipt of data from multiple sources. Because this data is provided by outside service providers, often the data format is incompatible with the format utilized by the EPG distributor. Therefore, an EPG data management system must have a means for collecting data from these various sources and performing the necessary processing functions on the data so it is compatible with the database format utilized by the EPG distributor.
One factor complicating the distribution of EPG data to EPG providers is that, in the television program distribution industry, the hardware and software used for transmission of program and other information and for reception processing varies from one distributor to the next. In order to realize broad distribution of EPGs, an EPG distributor's system must be capable of interfacing with each of the various hardware and software systems used by the EPG providers.
The distribution of an EPG to a particular EPG provider is influenced not only by specific hardware and software transmission protocol, but also by other factors, such as the EPG provider's geographic location, the electronic storage and processing capabilities of its data processing systems, and the nature and extent of programming offered by the EPG provider. For example, if an EPG distributor created a standard global database of television program schedule information that contained listings for substantially all of the stations offered in a plurality of markets (or all markets) across the country, the standard database would have to be customized for a particular EPG provider by filtering out information related to stations outside of a particular EPG provider's geographical market and other stations not carried on the EPG provider's system before the EPG product could be used. In addition, the EPG data must be tailored to the particular EPG provider's time zone. Thus, an EPG distributor must be able to furnish a series of customized, filtered versions of its standard database product corresponding to each of the geographical markets where the product is used.
The filtration process also depends upon the processing and storage capabilities of the local program distributor's computers. For example, the EPG distributor could perform the filtration process using its central computers and then deliver a customized product to each EPG provider. In another scenario, the standard global database (or a subset thereof comprising data for a plurality of EPG providers) could be transmitted to each EPG provider where the provider's computers could perform the filtration process. Alternatively, the EPG distributor could install its own remote computer systems at each of the EPG provider sites, in which case the standard global database would be transmitted to each remote computer, which would then perform the filtration process before passing the customized database to the EPG provider's computers via a local transmission link.
Current data processing systems for cable television system headends and other EPG providers vary widely in the manner in which they receive and process data. Whereas some systems may be configured to receive an entire file, such as the "IPG" computer from General Instruments, others may require that the data be broken up into transactions used to update a database resident on the data processor, such as the Information Services Processor (ISP) from Scientific-Atlanta. Another scenario under development for the distribution of an EPG is the utilization of a continuous or "live" digital data stream. The data stream is transmitted to the EPG provider, which in turn distributes it to the various system subscribers. Each subscriber is provided with appropriate software and data processing capabilities to extract only the schedule information for programs carried by the local program and EPG provider. One example of such a system is the DigiCable feed generator designed for TCI. The DigiCable system continuously generates a digital stream of EPG data and transmits it to DigiCable compatible EPG providers. The data format and transmission protocol for this type of system are very different from those of a system such as the ISP and IPG that transmit data to program distributors on a periodic basis. Therefore, the EPG distributor's system must be capable of generating different data feeds for each of the different types of systems used by different EPG providers.
In addition to providing the EPG database to the EPG providers, the EPG distribution system must also download the software needed to access and utilize the EPG data to the EPG providers. For interactive EPGs, the software is then provided to the subscribers of the EPG provider for storage in their settop boxes or in a data processor provided in a television receiver, VCR, personal computer, or other equipment provided at the user site. Just as the data processing systems at each of the EPG providers differ, so do the settop boxes provided to the subscribers, which must be compatible with the data processing system at the EPG provider. The different EPG providers may thus require the software to be configured differently in order to be properly downloaded to subscribers.
In order to accommodate a plurality of EPG providers with varying processing, storage, and information content requirements, an intelligent EPG data distribution system is needed to transmit the proper data using the proper format and transmission protocol for each EPG provider.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an EPG data management and distribution system that collects data from multiple sources, processes the data to create a global database of television program schedule information, and distributes customized EPGs to a plurality of EPG providers.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a plurality of configurations for creating customized EPG's using information from a standard global database of program schedule information.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a data distribution and management system for an EPG comprising an automated data collection system for collecting data from multiple information providers.